After writing over 500 articles on the subject you would think the subject would yield little in the way of surprises, not true. Here is a new issue that I had not come across or to be honest even considered.
In the Chinese city of Xinyang there has been a case of grave robbers removing ashes then seeking to extort a ransom.
The thieves stole the cremation urn containing the ashes of a Mrs Liu husband and ransacked his tomb, they left a phone number scrawled on his headstone demanding 20,000 yuan (which is around £2000 or $3000).
Mrs Liu paid the money, but the tomb raiders wanted more!
It would appear to as a result of three or perhaps four trends in China
- Chinese authorities are promoting cremation over burial in an effort to reduce land take
- Certain Chinese citizens are becoming very wealthy
- In China family / ancestor veneration is very important aspect of the culture, and perhaps
- As capitalism takes greater hold so does some of its less desirable ‘by-products’ crime, greed and envy (although I appreciate this last one might be overstating it a bit!)
I was thinking off being flippant and saying the Lara Croft has been held pending further enquiries and yes I know the blog image is a bit tongue in cheek, but one can’t maintain a dower image at all times…
Original source: http://www.3news.co.nz/world/china-grave-robbers-hold-ashes-for-ransom-2015111623#ixzz3rmAdp9b5